Hello all!
I've been doing some research to try to document all the different inlay combinations Gibson used on prewar banjos. I've used Greg Earnest's website extensively to identify banjos and find many of the photographs I've used as references.
I've been compiling the results into a series of PDFs. Each sheet represents a specific documented banjo, identified by year and FON in the title, although the same configuration obviously may have been used on many other banjos. Each diagram is standardized to a five-string version; if the documented example was a TB or PB, I've adapted it to five-string form using period Gibson five-string examples. I've limited the project to RB, TB, and PB banjos, so MB, UB, and GB examples are not included.
Some individual sheets are currently marked INCOMPLETE because I haven't been able to draw everything yet. There are also some entire styles I haven't gotten to yet, including Styles 10, 11, 12, and 18, but those are planned.
Here's the Google Drive folder:
drive.google.com/drive/folders...rive_link
I'm sharing these not only because I want people to be able to see and use them as a reference, but also because I'd like help expanding the collection. If you know of a prewar Gibson RB, TB, or PB with a combination of fretboard inlays, headstock inlays, or headstock shape that isn't represented in these files, please let me know! Photos, FONs, or links to documented examples would be especially helpful.
Thanks for doing all this work - and for making it accessible to us all! - that's a huge help to the banjo community! I'll dig through my banjos and parts and see if there's anything unique. I have a pristine RB -Kalamazoo if that would be helpful (not sure if you want Gibson off-brand ones). Richie Dotson likely has the best and most diverse collection of original necks.
There’s also a couple of Granadas with flying eagle peghead inlays and hearts and flowers fretboard inlays.
quote:
Originally posted by CJSBostonThanks for doing all this work - and for making it accessible to us all! - that's a huge help to the banjo community! I'll dig through my banjos and parts and see if there's anything unique. I have a pristine RB -Kalamazoo if that would be helpful (not sure if you want Gibson off-brand ones). Richie Dotson likely has the best and most diverse collection of original necks.
I included the non-Gibson brand ones in my list of ones to include, so sure!
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Originally posted by Bronx banjoThere’s also a couple of Granadas with flying eagle peghead inlays and hearts and flowers fretboard inlays.
Yes sir! I included one in my Granada list. It's on the third page, listed as "1929 Gibson Granada FON #9472-1".
I know of some tb3 variants.
One is where the diamonds on the fretboard are not “crossed”, just plain.
There’s also the block or text mastertone on the headstock instead of on the fingerboard.
I’ve seen some TB-3s with some extra dots on the headstock as well.
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Originally posted by jt80I know of some tb3 variants.
One is where the diamonds on the fretboard are not “crossed”, just plain.
There’s also the block or text mastertone on the headstock instead of on the fingerboard.
I’ve seen some TB-3s with some extra dots on the headstock as well.
If you happen to find any pictures and FONs of those examples, please send them my way! I'd love to record them!
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Originally posted by Lemon Banjosquote:
Originally posted by jt80I know of some tb3 variants.
One is where the diamonds on the fretboard are not “crossed”, just plain.
There’s also the block or text mastertone on the headstock instead of on the fingerboard.
I’ve seen some TB-3s with some extra dots on the headstock as well.If you happen to find any pictures and FONs of those examples, please send them my way! I'd love to record them!
My 26 has the plain diamonds, the only crossed one is standard on the headstock. I've seen a couple more like that 8225-28 (pics below).
Some more famous TB-3 still getting usage in Irish are some others of those variants. I'll mention them because, while I don't know the FONs (they're ball bearings, so 25 or 26, and both solid skirts so likely 26), it's not to hard to find pics/videos of the instruments being played. Cathal Hayden's has a block Gibson logo, instead of the script. It now appears to have a large plate covering a break repair instead of a truss rod cover, but earlier videos show a couple of dots between the 2 lower tuners and the nut (https://belfastmedia.com/uploads/article/2022/2/12906/cathal_banjo2.jpg?t=1644490334).
Gerry O'Connor has one with mastertone spelled out below the Gibson script logo. There might be 1-2 ball bearing banjos in the classifieds tha have that same variant as well. that seems to be a fairly common variant, and I think in that case there's some other inlay on the fingerboard where the mastertone block would normally be .
The TB-3 was the meat and potatoes of gibson's "banjo boom" of the 20s, lots of variations there.
Edited by - jt80 on 09/07/2026 19:32:14
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